Lyme disease is enough to scare people into tick-repellent and caution against hiking in the woods unprotected, but scientists have just discovered a new bacterium which causes Lyme Disease.

Scientists from Rochester, Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic have reported a new bacterium which has recently begun to make people sick.  While Borrelia burgdorferi is the predominant causative agent in Lyme Disease, Mayo Clinic scientists have discovered a new genome of bacteria now called Borrelia mayonii (“Mayonii” pays homage to the scientists of the Rochester, MN Mayo Clinic.

The Symptoms of Borrelia mayonii

Similar to Borrelia burgdorferi, researchers believe Borrelia mayonii is also transmitted to humans through black-legged ticks (commonly known as deer ticks).  The symptoms of Borrelia mayonii are:

• nausea and vomiting
• diffuse rashes (rather than a single bull’s-eye rash associated with Lyme Disease)
• higher concentration of bacteria in the blood

Treatment of Borrelia mayonii

Patients infected with Borrelia mayoni who underwent treatment for their symptoms recovered.  Treatment included antibiotics used to treat Lyme disease.

The CDC recommends that health care providers who are caring for patients infected with Borrelia mayonii follow the antibiotic regimen described by the infectious Diseases Society of America.

Read more about Borrelia mayonii from this informative NPR article, here.